The GEO stands with the Chicago Teachers Union as they continue to strike for public education.
In 2009, the GEO Strike Committee waited to suspend our strike until members were heard through their voices and their votes at a General Membership Meeting. The Strike Committee took this action because we are a democratic organization wherein members make the decisions. But some in the UIUC administration falsely accused the GEO of unfairly preventing its members from going back to work.
The CTU Board of Directors has made our 2009 Strike Committee’s decision on a much larger scale: given the impact the Chicago Teachers’ new contract will have on the people of Chicago and the future of public education in this country, the Board refused to suspend a strike until all CTU members were heard. Sure enough, Mayor Emanuel’s response is to falsely accuse CTU leadership of preventing its members from returning to work.
Our solidarity is our power: the bosses will always try to undermine workers’ rights to form a union. The University of Illinois Board of Trustees has spent thousands of dollars fighting the recognition of the democratically elected Faculty Association at UI Chicago. Our labor is our power: The bosses will always try to undermine the unions’ right to strike. Mayor Emanuel has so far failed in his dishonest bid to force teachers off the picket lines through the courts.
Members of UIC and UIUC Graduate Employees Organizations march with the Chicago Teachers Union